UNC basketball dominates in win over Georgia Tech as Tar Heels remain perfect at home
North Carolina coach Hubert Davis is excited about the direction of his team even if the players don’t yet know where they’re headed. Games like the Tar Heels’ 88-65 win over Georgia Tech Saturday in the Dean E. Smith Center are why his confidence is growing.
Davis said in his postgame video conference that he told his team in the locker room how much they were getting better.
“You guys may not see it, or may not see it clearly, but I see it,” Davis told them. “I said, guys, we’re getting better. And we have so much more that we can improve on, on both ends of the floor, but I like where we are.”
Junior forward Armando Bacot is a major reason why. Davis touted Bacot as being the ACC Player of the Year frontrunner on Friday and Bacot backed up those words by tying his career-high — set just last week against Virginia — with 29 points against the Jackets. Bacot is the first UNC player since Tyler Hansbrough in the 2007-08 season to post back-to-back games with at least 29 points. Hansbrough scored 32 at N.C. State and 29 against Wake Forest.
The Tar Heels (12-4, 4-1 ACC) never trailed while keeping their record at home perfect through nine games this season.
“I feel like when I’m playing at this high of a level, I could definitely be the best player in the ACC,” Bacot said. “Not just even me. Y’all saw Leaky (Black), he held one of the best scorers in the country to two points. I feel like, he could be ACC Defensive Player of the Year.”
Black stayed isolated on Georgia Tech’s Michael DeVoe for most of the game. The Yellow Jackets (7-9, 1-5) senior guard was second in the league in scoring averaging 20 points per game, but was held to a season-low two points on just 1-for-5 shooting and had six turnovers.
It was an all-around feel-good game for the Heels, as they welcomed forward Dawson Garcia and guard Kerwin Walton back into the lineup. Garcia missed the past two games due to a concussion he suffered early in their win over Boston College. Walton was held out due to COVID-19 protocol and also sat out the Notre Dame and Virginia games.
Here’s what we learned from the Tar Heels’ win:
In-game shootaround
Georgia Tech just doesn’t have the personnel to matchup with Carolina.
The Yellow Jackets opened the game playing a 1-3-1 zone and the Heels carved it up from the start. R.J. Davis made four 3-pointers in the first half, which highlighted how many open looks the Heels managed to get.
Even when the Jackets came out of the zone to go man-to-man, the onslaught continued. Bacot, the ACC’s leader in field-goal percentage, scored on dunks for his first four baskets.
Carolina shot 56 percent from the field and was 10-of-17 on 3-pointers against the Jackets in its win last month in Atlanta. The Heels shot 47.6 percent from the field Saturday.
“I don’t really know how to really pinpoint our ceiling, but we could be a really great team when we’re playing hard and playing at this level,” Bacot said. “It was great that we won, but I’m not satisfied.”
R.J. bounces back
R.J. Davis had the worst shooting performance of his career when the Heels beat Virginia last week. Davis went 0-for-10 from the field, including five missed 3s. But Hubert Davis said he texted his sophomore guard telling him how well he played. R.J. Davis responded with, “I’ll make the shots next time.”
On the very first possession against the Georgia Tech zone, R.J. Davis did just that. He snapped that streak of misses with a corner 3-pointer off a Black assist and was on a roll.
Davis, who had 23 points against the Jackets in their first meeting, scored 16 points in the first half. It marked the second time this season he has scored as many in one half, duplicating his second-half effort against Purdue. Davis said he “attacked the week” and never lost his confidence.
“I did other things to impact the game against Virginia, so I know my confidence is at a high level,” R.J. Davis said. “So coming to this game was moreso just being who I am and not worrying about what happened last game.”
Davis finished with 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field, stopping short of his career-high of 26 points against Brown this season.
Manek to stay a starter?
Even with the return of Garcia from a concussion, Brady Manek remained in the starting lineup for Carolina. It was just the fourth start of the season for the grad transfer from Oklahoma who scored 11 points.
What Manek brings to the lineup is better shooting — he entered Saturday night shooting 49.7 percent from the field, compared to Garcia’s 43.9 percent. Manek’s 30 made 3-pointers also ranks second on the team behind Caleb Love.
They are about the same as rebounders: Garcia entered the game averaging 5.5 boards per game while Manek was at 5.7. Garcia had 11 rebounds against the Jackets and finished with four points.
But Manek is a better passer with more than double the assists of Garcia — including four against the Yellow Jackets.
All those reasons why Manek could stay in the starting lineup, are also the reasons why coach Hubert Davis may want him to serve as a spark off the bench.
Harris return?
Redshirt sophomore guard Anthony Harris was not with the team on Saturday as the school only revealed he was “unavailable” before tipoff. Asked when he anticipated Harris’ return, Hubert Davis said: “I don’t know how long Anthony will be out. I haven’t thought about that. My hope is is that he’s back the next game on Tuesday against Miami. He was just unavailable (Saturday.)“
This story was originally published January 15, 2022 at 10:05 PM.